Inequality in social capital: social capital,social risk and drop-out in the Turkish education system

This article examines the effects of social capital on the likelihood of dropping out from the compulsory education system (Grades One through Eight) in Turkey. It focuses on the question of whether school-related social capital can provide the means to stay in school in the presence of risk factors such as socioeconomic status, race, or gender that cannot be easily modified. Despite major progress in enrollment rates due to policies enacted in recent years, the overall drop-out rate in compulsory education is close to 15% in Turkey. Data collected from 764 student–mother pairs show that drop-outs are exposed to higher number of social risk factors. We further illustrate that school-related social capital, as measured by quality of in-school teacher–student interactions as well as parental involvement in school, significantly and positively contributes to adolescents’ likelihood of staying in school even in the presence of severe social inequalities.     

Language Use in a Multilingual Class: a Study of the Relation Between Bilingual Students’ Languages and Their Meaning-Making in Science

In this study, we examine how bilingual students in elementary school use their languages and what this means for their meaning-making in science. The class was multilingual with students bilingual in different minority languages and the teacher monolingual in Swedish. The analysis is based on a pragmatic approach and the theory of translanguaging. The science content was electricity, and the teaching involved class instruction and hands-on activities in small groups. The findings of the study are divided into two categories, students’ conversations with the teacher and student’s conversations with each other. Since the class was multilingual, the class instruction was carried out in Swedish. Generally, when the conversations were characterised by an initiation, response and evaluation pattern, the students made meaning of the activities without any language limitations. However, when the students, during whole class instruction, were engaged in conversations where they had to argue, discuss and explain their ideas, their language repertoire in Swedish limited their possibilities to express themselves. During hands-on activities, students with the same minority language worked together and used both of their languages as resources. In some situations, the activities proceeded without any visible language limitations. In other situations, students’ language repertoire limited their possibilities to make meaning of the activities despite being able to use both their languages. What the results mean for designing and conducting science lessons in a multilingual class is discussed.     

Beginning early childhood education teachers’ classroom management concerns

This paper reports an analysis of the classroom management concerns of pre-service early childhood education (ECE) teachers prior to beginning their career and further examines the difficulties they experienced in classroom management in their first year of teaching and their coping strategies. Sixteen pre-service ECE teachers enrolled in the same teacher education programme were interviewed immediately before graduation, and were again interviewed at the end of the first and second semesters after they started to work in public schools. Phenomenological analysis was utilized for the data analysis. The findings revealed that all of the participants had a fear of being unable to manage their classes before starting their careers because they felt unprepared. However, they experienced fewer problems than expected after they started to teach. The teachers first tried to build trusting and close relationships with the children to create a peaceful classroom climate, while also attempting to empower the children by involving them in decision-making processes. In this way, the children became aware of the class rules and felt free in their actions within the limits of the rules.     

Affective Reorganization in the Infant, the Mother, and the Dyad: The Role of Upright Locomotion and Its Timing

Clinical theory is replete with rich observations that the onset of walking engenders an enhancement of emotional expression in the infant. Yet, no empirical research exists on this subject. Moreover, the importance of normal timing variations in the onset of developmental transitions has not been a topic of investigation in most developmental research. In this naturalistic home study, "earlier" and "later" walking groups were delineated on the basis of timing of entry into this developmental transition. Age-held constant analyses indicated that earlier walkers and their mothers generally showed a rise in positive exchanges as well as "testing of wills" across the transition to walking. These changes were less clear for the later walkers. Differences were observed also between the two groups even prior to walking. These findings suggest that future studies should take account of timing variations in the onset of a developmental transition.     

Investigation of the Relationship Between Middle School Students’ Computational Thinking Skills and their STEM Career Interest and Attitudes Toward Inquiry

Journal of Science Education and Technology - This study investigated the relationship between middle school students’ computational thinking skills and their STEM career interest and...     

Multivariate Assessment of Middle School Students’ Interest in STEM Career: a Profile from Turkey

Research in Science Education - According to a report by the Turkish Industry and Business Association, Turkey will need approximately 1 million individuals to be employed in Science Technology...     

Mandatory Virtual Design Studio for All: Exploring the Transformations of Architectural Education amidst the Global Pandemic

Virtual design studio (VDS) has been a part of the discourse of architectural pedagogy for the past two decades. VDS has been showcased as a potential educational tool in schools of architecture often in controlled, pre‐designed experiments. However, the global COVID‐19 pandemic has forced most schools to move their design studios into virtual space. This article aims to explore the potential advantages and shortcomings of VDS during the COVID‐19 quarantine from the perspective of students in a department of architecture. The study investigates three aspects of VDS namely, participating students’ evaluation of the virtual studio experience, the effectiveness of VDS in achieving the studio’s expected learning outcomes and the evaluation process for final design projects. Some 360 students from eight consecutive design studios participated in the study. The results indicate improvement in students’ ability to conduct independent research and in learning new computer‐aided design (CAD) software. Furthermore, the study finds VDS to be much more applicable for third‐ and fourth‐year students. The results also show a significant decline in background informal peer learning among students. Further studies are needed to address the implementation of a more immersive social experience in VDS.